Introduction to MythsMaria MalafeiMay 20, 2014

Myths are mixtures of poetry,history, and poetry used to teach people proper manners. They are stories created to give values to things,places,and people. They are used to explain natural events and the unknown.

Artemis (Diana)

Artemis is the goddess of the hunt. She also helps women through childbirth. She can bring sudden death with her arrows. She is often portrayed as a young woman in buckskins, carrying a bow and arrows. Usually, she is accompanied by wild creatures. For example, a stag or a she-bear. Her brother is Apollo. When he saw that she was hunting with Orion, a giant, he decided to put a stop to it. He challenged her to shoot a target far out at sea, and she shot perfectly. The target turned out to be Orion's head.

Pegasus

Pegasus is an immortal winged horse. He was born from the head of Medusa, when she was beheaded by Perseus. He was found at Corinth, drinking from the spring of Peirene. Bellerophon tamed him with a golden bridle given to him by Athena. Pegasus flew to heaven and got a place in Zeus's stables. He is also a constellation, which usually means that warm weather is coming.

The Flood

Zeus had gotten angrier and angrier with mankind. He decided people had become really evil, so he drowned them with a flood. Prometheus didn't want to interfere so he only told Deucalion, his son. His son built a boat for him and his wife, Pyrrha, and they survived the flood. Zeus had started to regret destroying the human race, so he was overjoyed when he found out they survived. He sent Themis, a Titaness to help them restart the human race. She gave them stones and every stone Deucalion threw, turned into a man, and every stone Pyrrha threw turned into a woman. This myth explains how the human race restarted, and how the Age of Heroes came to be.

Atlas

Ever wondered why a book of maps is called an atlas? Its because of the great titan that holds the world on his shoulders, Atlas. Why does he have to hold the world on his shoulders? Well, he made the BIG mistake of siding with his brother Cronus, in a war against Zeus. His punishment was to hold the world on his shoulders.